Dual Band / Ham / 2-Way / Amateur Radio Install (and FRS/GMRS mod)

[Stepside]

Here are some pictures of my Icom 208H dual-band radio.
The radio is on the console by my right leg.
It does Not interfere with full movement of seat.

The detachable head is in perfect view,
has easy access, and does not require one to turn their head.

The microphone is mounted on the passenger's side
to facilitate the placement of the long microphne cord.
Placement of 'mic' on the driver's would cause
an annoyance of cord length dangling by right leg.

The antenna is a 'thru-the-glass' type.
These antennas work good if installed correctly,
but you get one try . . so failure is not an option.

The unit is hardwired directly to the battery.

AND here is my 'rant' with FORD.
UPFITTER WIRE ACCESS. [NOTE: wires not gauged for high current flow]
"ya think you might give us about 24 inches of extra wire?"
pulling the access panel and see how
SHORT the wires are . . IS enought to "**** off the Pope"
Some of us want enough wire for a soldered connection . .
NOT a cheap crimp connection . . in a $50k vehicle ? ? really?
Wake-Up - Leader of SVT Team
-End Rant-

Other than that "penny-pinchin' mistake"
I'm good -

 

[LVdezertdawg]

Nice job stepside. I will be doing something similar soon.

 

[BigJ]

Nicely done Stepside!

 

[All The Way]

what vhf band do you guys use on your Raptor runs?

 

[Baja Jones]

Woah I am on the wrong forum. Thanks for the idea. I am gonna dump the mil spec icom and get a remote face Ken woody. Still gonna poke a hole in the middle of the roof for the antenna.
I will post pics if I can figure out how this site works.
Good luck to y'all

 

[KaiserM715]

J, did you ever hardwire this setup for power? I am looking for ideas...

The detachable head is in perfect view,
has easy access, and does not require one to turn their head.

The unit is hardwired directly to the battery.

I am taking this to mean that your radio always has power and does not have any relays, right?

Are you using velco to attach the head to the dash? It looks like it from the pics, I just want to confirm.

Woah I am on the wrong forum. Thanks for the idea. I am gonna dump the mil spec icom and get a remote face Ken woody. Still gonna poke a hole in the middle of the roof for the antenna.
I will post pics if I can figure out how this site works.
Good luck to y'all

Baja, did you get your Kenwood? I am looking at a TM-V71A.

 

[treypal]

Woah I am on the wrong forum. Thanks for the idea. I am gonna dump the mil spec icom and get a remote face Ken woody. Still gonna poke a hole in the middle of the roof for the antenna.
I will post pics if I can figure out how this site works.
Good luck to y'all

Jones, everyone is poking holes towards the back. There is a bunch of room under the 3rd brake light, and you can run the wiring without dropping the headliner (supposedly). If I keep the 2010 Raptor I am going to "commit" very soon.

Baja, did you get your Kenwood? I am looking at a TM-V71A.

I'm betting that he is getting the TK790H VHF.

 

[onesickpuppy]

Very very cool BigJ!!
My ICOM 706 is HF+2M &440, so (with MOD) my rig does CB channels. I have memory channels 1-40 matched up to CB and FRS above that. I could do 100 Watts on CB, but I can tune to 5 Watts and avoid problems. It does need alternate antenna for matching, if useing a VHF tuned antenna, is way too many harmonics away. I do use my 5/8 wave VHF antenna for 6 meters, which tunes as 1/4 wave at 52 MHZ. Make sure you use SWR meter for band it is designed for. I have SWR analizer that covers .5khz-1.2Ghz, so that is how I tune up.

BigJ, maybe I missed it, but what did you do for audio, with radio on floor and in the radio?? External, pump it through trucks audio!!

OSP

 

[All The Way]

I went the no holes way....except for the head unit bracket. All hidden
http://www.images.mcoers.com/raptor/IMAG0020_.jpg
http://www.images.mcoers.com/raptor/IMAG0022_.jpg

KaiserM715, did you see where I brought power in on my install?

 

[Stepside]

J, did you ever hardwire this setup for power? I am looking for ideas...


I am taking this to mean that your radio always has power and does not have any relays, right?

Are you using velco to attach the head to the dash? It looks like it from the pics, I just want to confirm.

YES, power is controled by radio On/Off switch.
It is hardwired to battery with inline fuses.
There are 2 rubber plugs on the right side of the firewall.
One is obvious and the other is a smaller one that is kind of hidden and even further right of the large one,
But to the Left if you are facing it.
I used the larger one, because I did not see the smaller one until after I made the razor slice in the rubber plug.
As for the mounting of the head on the dash -- I cut an Engineers Ruler - you know . . the triangular rulers ... to the length of the head and mounted velcro to that and the dash.
I'll post up a couple of more pictures.
I tucked all wires into slots in dash and console, under the rug and out thru the firewall.